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powder trickler that lets go of only one kernel at a time???

JC Steel

Gunny Sergeant
Commercial Supporter
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Minuteman
Oct 12, 2008
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Washington State
Hey Guys,

I am looking for something unique, and was hoping for a little help

Is there an item that I can use as a powder trickler that lets go of 1 kernel of powder at a time??

essentially what I am imagining is a small tube, like a primer tube, then every time you push the button one single kernel of powder leaves the tube.

Thats what I am imagining, something to trickle powder one kernel at a time, everytime. Or who wants to make something???



Thanks for the help guys.

jake
 
That's funny.

I use a Gempro jeweler's scale for weighing powder, and just the other day realized each "kernel" or grain of H-Varget weighs about 0.02 grains (1.3 milligrams... 1.290 mg but who's counting). Never gave it much thought before. When weighing charges I scoop powder (than you Mr. Lee) and trickle more into the pan up to the desired weight.

When most sources will tell you weight variations of 0.1 grain (about 6.5 mg) are irrelevant, even more for larger case capacities, I like knowing that powder weight is the least likely variable to be affecting my loads' external ballistics.

Nice to know I'm not the only one.

And what's quickest for me is picking up a loose grain from my loading bench and dropping it into the pan when I'm "that close."
 
The Omega powder trickler is certainly the best there is, although it is not dedicated to drop kernel at a time. It can quite reliably do so, just slide in the sliding weight, use the slow speed, and turn the hopper to it's slowest position, it will drop single kernels painfully slow, and you have some visual control with the feeder tube cutout, you can see the kernels coming out on a single line in the feed tube recess.

It can sometimes double feed kernels on a very rare occasion, but you have the chance to prevent them from dropping as you can see it.
It was not designed to reliably drop only one kernel at the time, so you should not expect it to do that reliably 100% of the time.

Used mine for a few years now and my only gripe with it is the time it takes to initially fill the feeder tube and get out kernels each time you are starting with a empty hopper.
It's adjustability is easy and very good, the drop tube is long enough to fit most scales and it works excellent, can reliably load my charges to within a kernel of powder every time.
Use it with dual Chargemasters and a Sartorius scale, for most of my reloading, and would not like to be without it.
 
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OK, I will describe my situation a little better,

I have three chargemasters I run side by side. Its a fairly fast set up.

Essentially, typical powder tricklers will not work but I run three chargemasters. I need this new powder trickler to be handy and abble to move quickly. So I was imagining a powder tube like a primer tube, then I can drop my charge .1 or .2 low on my chargemasters, then click click click and get the exact weight I would like.

The powder tricklers like the omega are nice, but are meant more for one scale, and meant for it to be very still.

I might resort to my fingers if there is nothing that will work
 
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There isn't one in existance that I am aware of, but I have always wanted to build one much like dillon's case feeder. Itty bitty slots in it so that it fits one kernel of powder at a time. You'd probably have to have different disks for different powders like dillon has for SR,LR,SP,LP.

If you build it well I'll buy one...
 
The closest i can think of is simply a normal trickler with a longer tube and a lid on so it does'nt spill powder.
As for feeding single kernels if using your CM as your scale it will not register a single kernel reliably at all, as the type of scale technology is meant for static charges really, the strain gauge type is also very prone to drifting in general and have auto compensation software built in, it also needs to be very level and still, as any scale should be if you want precision.

I run two Chargemasters to underthrow by 0.3 gr, as that is as far as i can trust it's reliability after a warm up time, move the pan to my scale and trickle in the rest, before i dump the charge in the powder funnel, and move the case to seat the bullet, and sort it by seating force.
And while i do this my second Chargemaster has finished my second load so i have no dead time in my reloading.

I'm not sure you will manage to take advantage of the speed 3 chargemaster gives you by loading this way even if you drop the last part of my operation and just move the case to the loading block though, so i understand your idea, and the concept of what your looking for.
Just don't think the product that will be ideal exists as of now, so you will have to look into getting something made.
 
The omega will drop one kernel at a time for sure. One caveat, the charge masters won't weigh to one kernel.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
If you set up your charge masters to drop a couple of tenths below and set the pan on a more accurate scale, you could weigh and charge with two or three charge masters much quicker. But, you would have to calibrate your pans to weigh the same.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
 
I have 3 chargemasters,

and a scale made by A&D, its the FX-120i

What I am going to do is throw a charge with the chargemaster, and reducer mod,its really consistant to .1 grain.
I will throw it low .1

Then pour it into my pan that will be sitting on my FX-120i, THEN, probably just use tweezers to grab on kernel at a time. The FX-20i is super sensitve and will weight .005 grains. Thats accurate. and its quick, shows the weight within 1 second,

then pour in my case,
then start over, grab another from the chargemaster, and do it again,

We will see how the tweezers work. I bought I good set of pointed tweezers, so hopefully it will consistently grab one kernel.
 
I have 3 chargemasters,

and a scale made by A&D, its the FX-120i

What I am going to do is throw a charge with the chargemaster, and reducer mod,its really consistant to .1 grain.
I will throw it low .1

Then pour it into my pan that will be sitting on my FX-120i, THEN, probably just use tweezers to grab on kernel at a time. The FX-20i is super sensitve and will weight .005 grains. Thats accurate. and its quick, shows the weight within 1 second,

then pour in my case,
then start over, grab another from the chargemaster, and do it again,

We will see how the tweezers work. I bought I good set of pointed tweezers, so hopefully it will consistently grab one kernel.



I thoroughly admire your quest for ultimate consistency, but I would be shit wagon crazy by the time I had 100 rounds loaded if I was doing that!

While it is conceivably possible to make a one kernal feeder based on a casefeeder principle, it would have to be set up with specific tubes for different powders I would think, maybe I will measure some different powders and see what I see

Who are you going to get to load the durn thing, taliban prisoners??
 
I use a piece of 308 brass as a trickler...I can get out 1 at a time with it fairly consistently... Fill it up about 3/4 of the way with powder and roll the brass between your thumb and index finger. After a bit of practice, it becomes very easy and accurate...
Hoodlum
 
Your procedure seems very similar to mine except for me running 2 chargemasters, and the Omega trickler is the only one that can drop one kernel of powder with repeatability in production today.
Neither do i see why you would want a different type as it does not need to be moved at all.
Using the tweezers can be faster though if you get only one kernel picked up with it.

Asfor CM accuracy to 0.1 grain, do a continious test of it checking with your balance every 15 minutes for 4 hours fx and you will see it does not hold it's advertised accuracy, if not you have a very good specimen.

The FX210 i is a very good scale for a good price. But it accuracy (verified standard deviation) is 0.015432grain or 0.001 grams, and it reliably measures to 0.02 grains, does not matter what the screen reads.
Good enough to measure most single gunpowder kernels.

This is very similar to my method just with a bit different scale.

Benchrest ammo reloading with Entris64-1S & Omega Powder Trickler - YouTube

Buying a Prometheus, is the fastest way to achieve the same, but it costs you 2000 more at least, it is leased not bought. And it is less accurate then a proper analythical balance.
So it is accuracy and cost vs speed.
Also the Prometheus only works with some types of powder.
I prefer my way as i also have better control of the result, each to they're own though.
 
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I use a piece of 308 brass as a trickler...I can get out 1 at a time with it fairly consistently... Fill it up about 3/4 of the way with powder and roll the brass between your thumb and index finger. After a bit of practice, it becomes very easy and accurate...
Hoodlum

That is what I used to do before I started using my Chargemaster, it works.
 
Buying a Prometheus, is the fastest way to achieve the same, but it costs you 2000 more at least, it is leased not bought. And it is less accurate then a proper analythical balance.
So it is accuracy and cost vs speed.
Also the Prometheus only works with some types of powder.
I prefer my way as i also have better control of the result, each to they're own though.

It's a 25 year lease. Brand will be the first to tell you he isn't going to be going around gathering up powder dispensing machines in 25 years. It is accurate every time to 1 kernel. That level of accuracy is absurd, and there is no possible application where being more accurate in throwing a charge would be of a benefit. I can load 150+ rounds an hour with my machine. How many can you? As far as cost I am guessing you have close to the cost of a Prometheus tied up in trying to duplicate what it can do.
 
Jake,

I just got my Omega trickler today and loaded 200 rounds with it. I set my Chargemaster to .2 grains low and trickle up. Most of the time I can get the Omega trickler to throw one grain...every now and then it will drop two. This technique eliminates the time wasted when the Chargemaster over throws.

One of these days I will get a Sartorius.

Regards,

Ed
 
It's a 25 year lease. Brand will be the first to tell you he isn't going to be going around gathering up powder dispensing machines in 25 years. It is accurate every time to 1 kernel. That level of accuracy is absurd, and there is no possible application where being more accurate in throwing a charge would be of a benefit. I can load 150+ rounds an hour with my machine. How many can you? As far as cost I am guessing you have close to the cost of a Prometheus tied up in trying to duplicate what it can do.

I know it's a 25 years lease, And yes he wil probably not be walking around in 25 years, but paying north of 3000 dollars for something i do not own, well it does not sit right with me, it must atleast follow a written contract for a guaranteed 25 years lease.
It is a clever feat in engineering, and a outstanding product as far as i know.
Yes indeed it is very accurate, but only with the right types of powder, that was a big contributor to me not trying to lease it.
0.02 grains or so is good enough for any use indeed, about a single kernel of Varget.
Atleast if your not a uber OCD BR shooter that has taken on the task of uniforming powder kernels lol:)


To me the price is not all that frightening really, if i am going to buy a Chargemaster here it costs me 1000 dollars and not 300, why i bought mine from sinclair and got them shipped.
But i do not see that i can benefit anything by buying it.
I am also not so sure he would lease it to someone living on the other side of the Atlantic.
Neither do i know if it is ITAR regulated like annealing machines is, that would be another bump in the road.
Then i add 25% vat, import costs and paying for the toll office.
Then i would need a modified machine or a good converter to be able to run it on 230 or 400 volts.
If anything ever fails i have to ship it to the US and back, that is over a month just in shipping, no spare parts available either i assume.

So personally it is just not worth it, but i did not base my comment on what is beneficial for myself.
Neither do i try to duplicate a Prometheus.

As for my personal cost it is irrelevant pretty much, as it is a lot higher then it would be in the US, especially since the dollar is still quite low. I do also use a Sartorius Quintrix witch costs a good deal more then something like a A&D FX.
North of 5000 dollars if bought here, even my single stage press is about half the price of one Prometheus in the US.

For someone else though 2x chargemasters, a Omega trickler and one A&D FX120i ,will give you the same accuracy as the Prometheus, for around 1100 dollars, it is a bit slower though.
It does work with all types of powders, you calibrate and check your weight so you have full control of everything in the process every time.
It is readily available and can be gotten in a few days, service is available several places except for the Omega.
And it is your equipment when you buy it.

I do not go in for loading my rounds as fast as i can, and i do not keep your pace neither do i try to.
Excluding all the steps that should be above:
First the every case one by one is neck sized with the appropriate bushing or the WTC die.
While i underthrow 0.3 grains on the CM, pour it from the CM onto my scale, and trickle up with the Omega.
Pour the powder slowly into the funnel with drop tube.
Then i take a bullet, place it in the case, move it to my hydraulic arbor press and seat the bullet with a inline seater die, measure seating depth with the bcg and sort the rounds by seating pressure. And i do check the loaded rounds for runout somewhere between every 10 and 25 rounds.
And always the first few for each session.
All of these steps takes extra time, as i do not move my brass around in batches for efficency, consistency is my goal not speed.

And i am not trying to duplicate anything, just reload for perfection and those are the tools i have chosen, for simple reasons.
If a Prometheus was readily available and working with most powders then i might have bought one, as personally the price does not matter too much.
Although i still feel my method gives me better control of the end result.

Different ways of reloading and different techniques i assume.
Each one to they're own though.
 
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I'm not sure where you are getting that a Prometheus doesn't work with a wide range of Kernel size. Works with anything from 8208 XBR to H1000. Thats about as big of range as I can think of.
 
I have 3 chargemasters,

and a scale made by A&D, its the FX-120i

What I am going to do is throw a charge with the chargemaster, and reducer mod,its really consistant to .1 grain.
I will throw it low .1

Then pour it into my pan that will be sitting on my FX-120i, THEN, probably just use tweezers to grab on kernel at a time. The FX-20i is super sensitve and will weight .005 grains. Thats accurate. and its quick, shows the weight within 1 second,

then pour in my case,
then start over, grab another from the chargemaster, and do it again,

We will see how the tweezers work. I bought I good set of pointed tweezers, so hopefully it will consistently grab one kernel.



I have been doing the method your describing for 3 years (with 2 chargemasters) and now that I have the Autodrop/V2/Fx120 I can tell you I didn't gain much time with the new setup. Only thing I gained is less movement by my lazy ass at the bench, both methods filled 100 cases in about 24mins to .02 within charge weight.
 
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It's in the works, essentially a system that lines the kernels up and with servo motor control it can drop one at a time. It's still in development, working through the electronics for the highest level of user friendliness and reliability.
 
Four year old thread guys, revived by someone wanting to link back to their own website apparently. Spam IMO.